Time Flies, Love Crash Lands
by JMD-009
Summary: After his aborted wedding with Anya, Xander makes a new life for himself in Silver Hills. So, of course some multi-coloured strangers are going to come along and complicate things.


**Time Flies, Love Crash Lands**  
(BtVS/PRTF)

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Disclaimer: I'm poor. I own nothing

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Notes: I don't know where this came from but it just wouldn't leave me alone.  
It was originally just supposed to be a few hundred word drabble but mutated  
into a full 3400 word one-shot.

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Someone told me once that writing things down in a journal can help you sort out your thoughts. At this point I figure there's nothing to lose by trying.

I'm not sure where to start though. One of the most significant changes in my life was meeting Buffy for the first time, but that doesn't feel like it's the place for this story to begin. I guess things started after my aborted wedding with Anya.

I ran.

Yes, I know, leaving the 'former vengeance demon for scorned women' at the alter was not the most intelligent thing a man could do. I was scared. I'll admit it.

The concept of marriage scared me even before the old man showed me a vision of mine and Anya's future together. I'm not stupid, despite how I play things. I knew it was a fake vision from the start. It just played on the fears I already had perfectly; brought them all to the surface.

Fears that Anya and I weren't right for each other. That we wouldn't last, or worse, that Anya would be as unfaithful as my mother and I would become just like my father.

The less said about him the better.

I'd always intended on going back. The plan had been to just find a motel until the blind panic subsided and I was done drowning my sorrows.

Instead I just kept on driving.

I made it as far as Silver Hills before my car gave out. It must just be something about road trips and me that destroys cars because this one was practically new.

Still, there are worse places to break down than Silver Hills. Oxford comes to mind. The city was on the ocean and was surprisingly clean and quiet as far as cities go. It was bigger than Sunnydale but fairly small when compared to cities like LA. That was fine with me. The few times I had been to a big city I always felt a little claustrophobic. They seemed so rushed and crowded to me and I like to have a little room to do my own thing.

All in all, I wasn't too put out by my unexpected stop. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts right now and, since I've never mentioned or even really thought much about Silver Hills, nobody would think to look for me here. With that in mind I went back to my Motel idea.

Nothing much really happened until I called into work. I'd had some time booked off already for my honeymoon, but that ran out soon enough. My boss had been surprisingly sympathetic to my story (minus the supernatural elements of course). He told me that if I wasn't one hundred percent certain I was ready and that she was the one that the most responsible thing I could have done was to call things off. Granted my timing sucked, but it was the right thing nonetheless.

Grant (my boss) was more than willing to give me another week or so off if I needed it, but he had another option for me. Silver Hills is a rapidly growing city and had the call for construction workers to match. I figured that he knew someone who could give me a job for a while. Instead he knew some people _I_ could hire.

That's right, he suggested that I start my own company here in Silver Hills. It's not that I don't know the business – Grant had taken me under his wing when I first started and showed me the ins and outs of not only the actual building aspect but the business side of things as well – I just wasn't too sure I could pull it off.

I'm still not sure how he convinced me to do it, but before I knew it Grant was in town helping me get the loans, staff, office, everything I needed up and running. Before I knew it I had a comfortable apartment, a company and employees, even a few new friends. I had a life.

As you can imagine, I got quite the earful from the Sunnydale gang when I told them I wasn't coming back. Once the yelling was over we settled into a routine; daily emails, at least a couple calls with one person or another throughout the week, and the occasional visit every couple months. Silver Hills is only a half days drive away from Sunnydale so it's not like we were never going to see each other.

All that though, that's all setup for what happened next.

Who would have thought that something could happen to change my life like the day I met Buffy. When I met Buffy I ran straight into a guardrail. When I met _her_, _she _ran into something. Granted it was my helmeted head she walked into when I was picking up the keys I dropped for my bike (I've given up on cars), but at least it was different.

This girl was beautiful. A woman hadn't struck me like that since that first day with Buffy, and maybe even more than then. It's a good thing I dropped the keys before seeing her because a wipe-out on the bike would hurt a lot more than the skateboard did.

She walked by with a distracted 'sorry' and not so much as a backwards glance. At least that's what I thought. I'd find out later that she did look my way when I said 'no problem' as I drove off.

I figured I would never see her again, but hey, even looking was a big step for me. It had been a year since Anya and more than one person had commented on my monk-like existence. Maybe this was a sign I was ready to move on and get back in the dating game. I was even tempted to go back and ask the brunette in the all white outfit for her number, but, sadly, I did notice the diamond ring on _that _finger and put the thought out of my mind.

Of course that's when the explosions and screams started. Since I have a complete and utter lack of any survival instincts I gunned it _towards _the danger. Given my attraction to her I should have known she'd be right at the heart of it all. But, c'mon, what are the odds that the first woman I've been interested in in over a year would be involved in something strange and dangerous?

Yeah, I should have known better. Let's face it though; I still would have gone if I did.

When I got to the source of the chaos I found a bunch of bronze robots with a large red eye for a face, Cyclobots I'd later learn, were putting a serious beat down on four people in white uniforms. The brunette was knocked down by a pair of them and they aimed what I assumed were high tech guns at her.

I'll admit I got a little thrill when I sped in all dramatic like and kicked one down as I passed. I stopped the bike and got off, kicking the second one away as the first got up. Then it was on. It surprised me how well I did. They weren't as strong or fast as a vampire and broke easily enough when you smash them against concrete enough times.

When the fight was over I helped her up and took off my helmet. This girl had been calm and collected fighting deadly robots and even when they were about to kill her, but when she saw my face her hands went to her mouth, her eyes welled up with tears and she couldn't get words out. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

That's about when her friends finished their own fights and came over. Two were guys, one tall and dark haired, the other shorter and with green (yes green) hair and both had Asian features. They too wore shocked expressions when they got a good look at me. The dark skinned girl with them exclaimed something that I lost in the stinging pain as she pulled on my cheeks.

The brunette had recovered enough to speak by then, thanked me and basically ushered me off. I did think about arguing, demanding answers; like, I don't know, what was up with the robots?

The thing was, did I really want to get involved? I had a good thing going. A new life that had been relatively weirdness free for a year now. The answer: yes, I most definitely did.

I still got back on my bike.

Why? I didn't know these people and they didn't know me, even if I did obviously remind them of someone. I know I wouldn't have appreciated it if some stranger barged into the gang back in Sunnydale and demanded answers and secrets. I had a feeling these people knew what they were doing with this like the gang and I did with what we were doing.

Still, I was more than a little distracted throughout the boring, though unfortunately necessary, meetings the next day. My mind was still a day beforehand on four strangers in white and the disappearing robots (I still have no idea where the scrap metal left disappears to).

Even though they hadn't seemed too keen on me getting involved in all this at first, I wasn't all that surprised when I saw the brunette standing by my bike when I left that afternoon.

Then she told me a story.

Her name was Jen and she was from the year 3000 and part of something called Time Force. Apparently a bunch of mutant criminals had escaped through time and her and her friends had followed them. She wanted me to put on this wrist thingamajig (actually called a morpher) because I may be the only person who can activate it, thus activating the wrist thingamajigs the others had.

I told her she was off her meds.

That story was strange even by my standards of weird, and that's saying something. Naturally she didn't take that well. Fortunately I was saved from the angry rant when an honest to God hologram of the green haired guy came out of her watch and told her mutants were tearing up part of downtown. She took off.

It was about that point I decided that maybe she wasn't all the crazy. With only a few minutes of internal debate I was speeding downtown trying to find the fight. It didn't take all that long. The explosions narrowed the search area by a fair bit.

I made it just in time to catch Jen as she was thrown across a parking lot. She looked surprised to see me, but considering I called her a nut she probably would be. Jen smiled when I asked if it was too late to help out.

The big bad, a guy named Ransik, looked like the illegitimate lovechild of a biker and the Phantom of the Opera. Needless to say, he didn't appreciate the comment. He was also surprised to see me alive. Apparently he had killed someone who looked just like me. Yup, I was starting to get a bad picture about here too.

I'll admit, morphing for the first time was a rush and I got a bit excited. In that first fight as the Red Ranger I felt more alive than I had in years. Since high school really. Only now I wasn't fray adjacent like I was a lot of the time back then. With the suit I was every bit the equal of the other Rangers, especially when it downloaded how to use it into my head. It was nice being one of the main fighters for a change.

The fight itself didn't last all that long. In the excitement and the adrenaline rush of it all I don't really remember all that much beyond we won and the bad guys got away.

When we demorphed I found that Katie and green haired Trip were just as excited as I was and even Lucas cracked a smile (I picked up their names from comments in the battle). Jen, however, stormed over and took the morpher back, telling me that it wasn't a game and they only needed me to unlock the morphers. They didn't need me anymore.

The others weren't pleased with that, but followed Jen's lead.

So I left. What else was I supposed to do? It was one thing to fight for my place with the gang, they were my friends, but I didn't know these people. If they wanted their fancy superpowers back it was fine by me, but Silver Hills was my home now and I'll be damned if I was going to let some futuristic big bad take it away. I'd just have to fight in my own way.

My way being getting my ass handed to me. In my defence though, there were only two Cyclobots and I'd taken that many out once already. I had no way to know there were a dozen more coming out of the bank behind me until they, you know, actually did.

Boy was Jen pissed about that one. She cornered me after the fight and told me that I was playing and this wasn't a game; that I had never had to fight for anything in my life, never had to sacrifice for anything. She and the others left without giving me a chance to say a word.

Needless to say, when Trip showed up at my apartment that afternoon I was surprised. Apparently Jen wasn't naturally bitchy and normally a pleasant person to be around. Which, of course, just confirmed for me that I do indeed bring out the worst in women.

It turned out that Jen's attitude didn't so much have anything to do with me as it did who I reminded her of. The day Ransik escaped into the past he killed the original Red Time Force Ranger, Alex Drake. Jen's fiancée.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for her to watch the man she loved die only to meet someone who looked just like him mere hours later. Not only meet, but being forced to ask the clownish doppelganger for help. A lesser person would have broken.

Angrily pushing me away seemed like a perfectly natural reaction at that point.

Trip took me to the beach where the others were digging through the wreckage of their timeship. Well, mostly everyone. Jen was staring at the waves with a faraway gaze and twisting the ring on her left hand. She wasn't exactly happy to see me, though at least she wasn't hostile either. This time I made sure I got to say my peace.

I told her that I knew her story so I should tell her mine. I told her about the things I had been fighting for years now, about the people I had lost to them even before I knew they existed. About Jesse; that, intentional or not, the first vampire I dusted wore the face of my best friend. I didn't hold anything back.

When I was done there was guilt in her eyes, but I cracked a joke before she could apologize. I hadn't told her all of that for an apology or to make her feel bad. I understood and didn't take it personal. All I wanted to do was help. Whether it be in Sunnydale or Silver Hills, that's all I ever wanted.

A tentative smile told me she got the message loud and clear. That and the morpher she tossed my way. One more chance to prove myself a Ranger.

I've been one ever since.

When it became clear this wasn't going to be a quick mission I found them a place to live and jobs in my company when they insisted they weren't going to freeload. It helps things along when you're the boss and can be lenient on little things like running off to fight mutant criminals in the middle of your shift.

Six months they've been here now and I've grown to care about each of them as much as the Sunnydale gang. Trip was right too; Jen wasn't bitchy. Once the shock of my face wore off and she didn't have to remind herself she was seeing Alex every time I walked in the room she was actually fun to hang out with. As the months wore on our banter grew more and more playful. Then the inevitable happened.

I fell in love with Jen.

I know, I know, I should know a doomed romance when I see one by now. What can I say? The cliché is true enough; the heart wants what the heart wants. That doesn't mean I don't know it's doomed.

Even if I confess and she feels the same way, and from the little hints I've seen she just might, there is still the fact that I look like Alex. There would be that little voice, that nagging doubt that I would just be a replacement for him. I know Jen now and I know she wouldn't do that though. She would never use someone like that or play with their emotions. That doesn't mean the doubt wouldn't still be there.

But hey, let's be optimistic and say we get past that. There would still be the tiny little detail of living in different millenniums. When this is over she won't be able to stay and I won't be able to go with her. She belongs to an agency that polices time after all. That would be breaking some pretty important rules. Even if we tried someone would probably be sent to take whichever of us back where we belong.

Then there was the other thing. The morphers are DNA locked. The red one was the key to all the others and locked to Alex's. The others had hoped that because I looked like Alex that mine would be close enough a match to release the lock. It was a long shot at best, but they were out of options. Even they had been surprised when it worked.

I may not have been the brain Willow was back in school, but I know enough to know they had good reason for shock. Just because you look like somebody else doesn't mean your DNA is anything alike. Not to mention that theirs is a time of genetic perfection. Any imperfections are engineered out long before birth. All this adds up to quite the little mystery. It shouldn't be possible that my DNA is anywhere near close enough.

The others consider it to be good fortune and, depending on who you ask, even fate. I don't.

I may not be able to list them all off the top of my head like Giles probably can, but I know there are more than a few ways some could gain a measure of immortality. The others haven't put it together yet, but it's just a matter of time. They know of the supernatural but don't have the first hand experience I do. By the time they were born virtually all demons had been driven off this plane for centuries.

It's still only a matter of time before the thought crosses their minds. The thought that I could actually be Alex and still walking the world a thousand years later.

Hell, my full name is Alexander and both Xander and Alex are short form for that.

Yeah, I know, my life isn't complicated at all, but I think writing all this down actually did do me some good.

You know what I've decided after everything is said and done? It doesn't matter if I am Alex or not. It doesn't matter if I could have a future with Jen or if it's just a futile dream.

I have to tell Jen how I feel and see where fate takes us. If I don't I'll always look back and wonder if things could have been different. Wonder what the future could have held for us.

It's time to spread my proverbial wings and try to fly. Maybe I'll fall but at least I had the guts to try.

And if I really do have to wait a thousand years to be with her again, so what? I know it will be worth the wait.


End file.
